


Not Her

by RoseTheKitty



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Other, basically my fan familiar being hurt, he basically considers her his daughter, like a lot, like he loves rose so much and doesn't want his girl being hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 04:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15186986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseTheKitty/pseuds/RoseTheKitty
Summary: Red brought memories of summer sunsets and rose gardens. Strawberries fresh from the garden. The ladybugs he’d chase in the spring. Autumn leaves. Ribbons in her hair. Red was love, red was the way his heart swelled when he was around his girl. Red was her arms around him, her purrs mingling with his own. Red was love, safety, protection, hope, kindness.Rose’s magic was red, had always been red.But seeing the whites of her eyes a sickly crimson red made his entire world stop spinning.





	Not Her

Orion was awoken from a nice nap in a sunbeam by a voice upstairs shouting and cursing. He perched on the windowsill nervously for a second, twisting his ears to try and catch more of the voices. Were Rose and Asra arguing again? Another shout confirmed his fears and he quickly slipped out the window, desperate to be away from the rising temper in the shop. As he landed he had to twist his body out of the way of a cart wheel to avoid being run over.

A cloaked figure with one of those nasty-smelling bird masks was pushing the cart, which was piled high with limp bodies. HIs spine curled instinctively, sensing the death that followed in its wake. The plague had been sweeping through the city for months now, and it showed no signs of stopping. The small sphynx cat paused at the corner, sniffing the air curiously. The bread-maker’s shop was empty and silent, no nice smells wafting from the door like usual. The seamstress’s shop next door was silent too, but if he squinted he could see a figure moving through the window.

Well, might as well go and see how Seirla was doing. A quick leap took him onto the windowsill, and he almost fell backwards at the sight of the woman still and cold on the bed, her wife hunched over her.  A soft mew of sorrow escaped him, drawing her attention. The two had always been nice to Orion, leaving him treats, giving him belly scratches, and Sierla had sewn some of his favorite bandannas for his birthday.

Belladonna slipped away from Sierla’s corpse, and scooped Orion up with a quiet sob.

“She’s gone Orion.” She sobbed, and he mewed again, rubbing his face against hers in the only form of comfort he could offer. He could have left, but he sensed she needed a distraction.

Now that was something he could give her. 

Hours seemed to pass, and slowly her tears stopped, although she continued to pet him. She held him once more, and deposited him back on the sill.

“Now head off home, Rose will be missing you.”

 

He turned once more, purring as loud as he could before making his way back up the street.

Huh? That wasn’t right. He could see Asra ahead of him, cloak drawn and travelling bag slung over his shoulder.

 

_Wait!_

 He screamed, sprinting to catch up. Asra must have heard, but the only reaction was his shoulders hunching.

 _Leaving?_ He called, running to keep up with the magician’s long strides. There was no response, but Faust uncurled from his scarf, hanging off his arm and meeting Orion’s eyes with a sad look.

**Plague. Leaving.**

 

She sounded...afraid?

 

_Rose?_

**Staying**

_Please!!_

 

He yowled, nearly tripping Asra over in his attempts to meet his eyes. He finally stopped, slowly looking down at Orion.

“I can’t stay here with the plague. Orion...tell her I’m sorry.” Then he was off again, leaving the small cat standing there alone. Anger swelled up in his lungs, how dare Asra leave Rose like this. How dare he leave her all alone.

 _Coward!_  

 

He screamed as loud as he could before he turned and sprinted back to the shop, scrambling up the wall and into the window. Where was she? His frantic thoughts were interrupted by a quiet sob from upstairs. He whirled, screeching up the stairs and into the bedroom. Sure enough, Rose was hunched on the bed, curled into a tight ball and body heaving with her sobs. He leapt up beside her, purring desperately and trying to rub his cheek against hers. She didn’t stop crying, but reached out and arm and scooped him under the blanket with her.

“He’s gone Orion.” She sniffed loudly. “ Said he couldn't stay here while the plague destroyed Vesuvia. He wanted me to go but…. There’s so many people who need help.”

 

 _You can’t do it alone you know._ He purred gently, kneading his paws against her cheek. She was silent, and Orion was worried he’d upset her more when suddenly she threw the blanket off her, eyes red with tears but still bright.

“That’s it!” She cheered, cradling the cat in her arms as she spun around the room. “Julian’s at the palace working on a cure! I’ll go and help him! That’ll prove Asra wrong!”.Orion wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, but he knew Rose well enough to know that once she had an idea she wouldn’t let it go.

 

The next few weeks passed in utter chaos. Julian had indeed accepted Rose as his apprentice, and Nadia didn’t mind as long as the shapeshifter kept up with her duties at the palace. The count’s animals still needed to be cared for, even if the city was going to ruins. Orion had begun to notice dark circles under her eyes though, and more then one night he’d found her fallen asleep at her desk. All he could do in those moments was find Julian and scream at him until he followed him to where she’d fallen asleep.

 

The bigger issue was Rose’s frustration at her lack of progress. Julian was convinced the plague was in the victim’s blood, but she was sure it was magic in origin. Orion knew she’d need all the luck in the world to convince the stubborn doctor of that though. Worse still was the head doctor, Valdemar. They had an odd interest in the two, even more so the shapeshifter and her magic. Whenever she went down to the dungeons to work with the other doctors, Valdemar would kick Orion away from the door before he could follow her down the stairs.

 

They never stopped aiming a foot at the sphynx cat, despite Rose nearly attacking them in anger upon finding out what they’d tried to do. Soon Orion learned he couldn’t follow his girl down there, no matter how much he yearned to. He settled for lying on Julian’s desk, dozing and waiting for the door to open again.

At least the desk always had a ray of light shining through the glass for him to nap in.

 

This relative peace only lasted for a few more weeks.

 

Orion awoke one day in the shop to realise the sun had long since risen. Odd, Rose usually woke with the sun. She never slept in this late. He clambered over the bedsheets and began pushing and shoving his paws at the blankets.

 _Rose?_ He mewed, finally shoving the heavy blankets aside. He almost fell backwards off the bed when he caught her gaze.

 

Her pupils had always been crimson, a color Orion once loved. Red brought memories of summer sunsets and rose gardens. Strawberries fresh from the garden. The ladybugs he’d chase in the spring. Autumn leaves. Ribbons in her hair. Red was love, red was the way his heart swelled when he was around his girl. Red was her arms around him, her purrs mingling with his own. Red was love, safety, protection, hope, kindness.

Rose’s magic was red, had always been red.

But seeing the whites of her eyes a sickly crimson red made his entire world stop spinning.  Her eyes were wide in fear, silent tears down her face. His words felt stuck in his throat, and he vaguely realised he was crying out a wordless anguished cry.

 

_No no no no no no_

He yowled, burying his face in her hair.

 _Not her. Not his girl. Please gods don’t take her from me._ Orion felt Rose curl up tighter around him, seeking a familiar comfort in the face of her end.

 

 

 

 

 

Rose knew she couldn’t stop working at the palace. If she suddenly stopped showing up it would be obvious what had happened. So she continued.

She’d always been skilled at glamours, and so she drained her magic everyday to continue the illusion of being healthy. A large amount of potions and herbal mixtures everyday helped with some of the symptoms, but still it progressed.  

Orion spent all day by her side, except for the dungeons. But he paced at the door, heart beating in fear. What if one day she didn't return.

His nights weren’t spent sleeping. Instead he searched the forest far and wide, bringing home any herbs or flowers that could help her. It wasn’t much, but he willingly gave her as much of his magic as he could, aiding her in keeping up her glamours.  


It worked.

Until it didn’t.

She emerged from the dungeons one day, coughing into her hand. Her walking was unsteady and weak, eyes slightly glazed over. Orion quickly clambered onto her shoulder, thankful no one else was in the library. He was so focused on her coughing he failed to notice the pale shape of Valdemar standing in the doorway of the passage, eyes glinting. 

 

By the time they got home Rose’s handkerchief was soaked red with blood. She didn't make dinner, just stumbled to bed and fell asleep. Orion didn’t sleep. He sat perched on the windowsill of the bedroom, glaring up at the stars with all his might.

 _You lied._  He thought as his eyes found the Orion constellation, his namesake. _You told me I’d protect her, that she needed me. What good is your gift now when I can’t even save her?_

 

As always, no answer came.  But his eyes spotted something else. A cloaked figure hurried down the street, followed by.... Guards.

Odd. They didn’t usually patrol this street at night. He watched them as they… approached the shop door. The wall seemed to shake with a thunderous pounding as someone slammed against the door. He yowled, leaping onto the bed and awaking Rose. With her usual glamours off, she looked pale and thin, eyes crimson all over. The fur on her ears and tail was tangled and knotted, she hadn’t had the energy to untangle them, and Orion’s claws had just made things worse.

 

_Guards! Run!_

 

He stood at the foot of the bed, back arched and spitting in fury and footsteps slammed up the stairs. Rose stood against the window, claws unsheathed and teeth bared in anticipation. The bedroom door slammed open, and three guards stood there, the figure of Valdemar behind them.

“So Rose, how long did you think you could hide things?” They grinned and Rose curled her hands in, then threw a bolt of dark magic in the entrance. But her hands seemed to tremble, and the magic just barely missed the guards.

 

“I fooled you this long didn’t I.” She grinned. “Now come and get me.”

 

_NO! RUN!_

 

His lungs felt like they were full of ice, but she didn’t listen. Of course she didn't listen. The guards surged forward and Rose met them halfway. Crackling energy around her arm seemed to attach itself to the first one, sending him flying backwards. The second one managed to duck under her arm and catch her in a chokehold. She wheezed for a second, throwing her weight around desperately. Her hand met a glass bottle on the windowsill, and she slammed it into his head. When he stumbled back her teeth were buried in his throat.

 

He fell down and Rose turned to meet the doctor’s eyes, her face splattered with blood and her eyes wild. He stepped forwards, ushering in another 4 guards.

_GO ROSE!_

 

Orions found he could move again, fear turned to fury as he launched himself at Valdemar. His claws digging into those stupid bandages and tearing at whatever skin he could reach. His teeth sinking into a soft forearm and tearing as deep as he could. Valdemar roared with pain and spun around, hand grasping Orion’s bandanna and yanking him off. The cat found himself hung in the air, bandanna digging into his neck and cutting off his air.

 

“Stupid little rat.” Valdemar cursed and threw Orion against the window with as much force as he could muster. The glass slammed into his head, and he simply lay there, dazed. His foreleg felt odd, and a glance down showed a lump under the skin that should not be there.Rose fought brilliantly in his opinion. It took almost 6 guards to restrain her enough to drag her out of sight and down the street. If he focused his eyes he could see the struggling mass move towards the docks.

 

Then his vision went black.

When he awoke, the sun was high in the sky, and his mouth tasted like cotton.

 

 _ROSE! ROSE!_ He screeched, limping downstairs. The shop was in disarray, chairs knocked over, glasses smashed and herbs scattered across the floor.

Orion ignored the pain in his body, slowly tracking Rose’s scent through Vesuvia. He almost lost it in the marketplace, but found a few golden hairs caught in the wooden wall of an alleyway.  


Of course it stopped at the docks. He could barely see the Lazaret through the smoke, dark and foreboding on the horizon.

_Oh my girl. Not there. Anywhere but there._

 

He knew that boats came and went, taking plague victims to the island. They always returned empty.  Orion’s first task was to sneak onto one of those boats. But guards hovered nearby, ensuring no one ran and everytime he crept near he’d be chased off.

 

But his girl was there, waiting for him.  After one last attempt, that got him kicked off the dock and into the murky water. He had another idea.

 

First he had to wait for the moon to recede, taking the water with it.

Second, he needed his leg healed. He’d seen Rose made the poultice to heal broken bones dozens of times, and while his attempt was decent at best, it did its job. Someone had tried to clean the shop up, sweeping debris into a pile and closing the door. But not the window.

The scent told him it wasn’t Asra. The scent was obviously Belladonna’s. She must have hoped Rose would return.

Thirdly, he’d need all the luck in the world to be able to swim to the Lazaret without drowning.  


The day finally came, and he stood stomach deep in the water, breath heaving. He’d never been too fond of water, and this...this terrified him.  But for Rose..For his girl he’d go anywhere. The sky was clear, the stars themselves seeming to light his way. He was exhausted, limbs heavy and slow as the island grew closer and closer. Orion barely had the strength to keep his head above the waves, and yet the closer he got the more hope seared within him. She was there somewhere. Waiting for him. She need him and he needed her.

 

His paws met the sand and he collapsed, water running from him and pooling around him. The island was dark and dank, sickness filling the air. The smoke was acidic, seeming to sink deep into his lungs. Still, he’d he had to find his girl. He crept around piles of corpses, deep pits in the earth, and paused, calling out.

 

_ROSE!_

 No answer.

  _ROSE!_

 No answer.

  _ROSE!_  


_There!_ His ears caught the tiniest reply, carried on the winds. He sprinted, yowling in joy as he followed the sound. His scent brushed against him, and he skidded to a halt. There she was, lying in the shade of a tree.  


_Rose!_ He shouted in triumph as he pressed against her, desperate to be near her again. Her voice was small, cracked with pain.

 

“Orion. You found me.” Her voice echoed with disbelief. “Are you really here?”  What? Of course he was here.

_I’ll never leave you again!_

 

Their purrs mingled once more, his tired but happy, and hers quiet and slow. She was weak, but alive, and that was all he needed. “Orion. I’m not gonna leave here am I?” Her voice shook with fear.

 

 _No! I’ll get you out. You’re not gonna die here!_ He promised her, eyes gleaming.  “Oh Orion, it’s too late for me. You need to go, I can’t bear the thought of you dying here too.” His heart stopped as she shifted her weight pulling a small slip of teal fabric from her waist. He was frozen as she undid his water-soaked bandanna, dropping it to the ground and replacing it with his sash.

_But, your sisters gave that to you. You’ll need all the constellations with you!_

 

He mewed softly, prompting her to smile. “You need their protection now more than I do.”

Footsteps sounded nearby, and Orion ducked under her arm, back arched as he searched for the source. Three figures in bird masks stopped at the sight of him, hunched in front of Rose protectively.

 

_Get away! She’s mine!_

They paid him no heed,  one shoving him aside as they studied Rose’s limp form.

“She’s a goner. Take her in.” A muffled male voice came from inside a mask. The taller of the three nodded, scooping her off the ground and walking quickly towards the large stone building. Orion scrambled to his feet, racing after them.

 

 _NO! MINE MINE MINE!_ He was too slow to make it, the heavy metal door slamming in his face. Her scent wafted around him from the sash, filling his senses.

It took another ten minutes for one of the doctor’s to exit, and he sprinted past them ignoring cries of shock. Her scent led him down twisting hallways and into an empty room. The wall in front of him lined with smaller doors.

What was...oh no.

 _ROSE!_ He cried out. _WHERE ARE YOU!_

 

His paws were too small to grasp the handles, and the metal was hot to the touch, burning away the skin on his paw pads. But he kept scratching at it, yowling and clawing and burning right alongside her. A hand seized the scruff of his neck, and he was carried away from her, still screaming his anguish as the stars came into view. The hand dumped him outside, and the door slammed behind him. His yowls echoed into the night sky even as his voice cracked, his throat ached and his paw pads bled into the dirt.

 

 _I HATE YOU_ His voice was aimed at the stars. _WHY’D YOU BOTHER GIVING ME MORE TIME IF YOU’D JUST TAKE HER AWAY! YOU SAID SHE’D BE MINE. YOU SAID I’D ALWAYS HAVE HER!_

At some point the door opened again, and Orion whirled as the tiniest hint of Rose’s magic swept past him. Another figure stepped by, carrying a large container of...flour? He followed, limping a few feet behind the figure as they stepped behind the building. As soon as he rounded the corner he knew what it was in the container. There were mountains of ash, all surrounding a handful of pits in the earth.

_Oh no._

 

The figure stood over a smaller pit off to the side, dumped the container in unceremoniously and walked away.

 _Oh no._ Orion stepped up to it, and sure enough Rose’s magic still faintly emanated from the ashes. He felt broken, the bond that had always been between them was numb, despite his frantic attempts to connect to her again.  Beyond the numbness though, was fury. How dare they treat her like this. Burning her to nothing. She deserved better. She deserved the burial she would have had in her homeland. Rose should have been laid beneath the trees, returned to the earth in her entirety, not burnt to ash and dumped.

 

He began digging at the sides of the pit, sending dirt down into it. He’d give her back to the earth, if if the earth she was in was dark and diseased it was better then how they’d treated her. By the time he’d filled the small pit in his paw pads were bleeding fresh, his claws broken and bleeding as well. Despite the layer of dirt now separating them,  her magic still hummed ever so slightly and it comforted him.

 

He slept under the stars and smoke that night.

  


He didn’t leave her grave, except to hunt something to eat and grab a mouthful of water was a few nearby puddles. He’d promised her he’d never leave her, and he’d promised. The few times doctors came nearby he’d hiss and spit, working himself up so much he’d froth at the mouth. Assuming he was sick, they’d left him be. He didn’t know how long it had been, the time slipping by in a heavy blur. When another figure approached, face shielded by the shadow of the crematorium he rose to his feet unsteadily, hissing and cursing the figure out, figuring they’d leave like the rest. But they kept approaching, until they stood over him, face dark.

He lashed out at them as they approached, yowling and screaming with all his might. They just dropped to their knees, their cloak falling back and the sight freezing Orion in his place.

Asra kneeled before them, eyes locked on the freshly covered dirt behind him. Faust perched on his shoulder, eyes sorrowful.

 

_You._

Rage filled Orion’s tiny body with more strength then he’d felt since she’d been taken away.

 _YOU LEFT HER TO DIE!_ He screeched, eyes scrunched closed. _YOU RAN LIKE A COWARD!_

 

Tears streamed down his soot covered skin, but Asra stayed silent.

**Sorry.**

Faust’s voice reached him through the red haze covering his vision. He couldn’t be mad at her for leaving. She’d gone where her person had gone, just as he had.

Asra’s breath suddenly hitched, and he scooped Orion up, ignoring his claws sinking into the magician;s arms.

“I’m sorry Orion. I was a coward. I should never have left her here alone!” He cried, and Orion felt his anger melt away. Asra may have left her, but he loved her more than life itself.

The three simply kneeled in front of the dirt, tears mingling and cries echoing to the stars.

  
  


The stars stayed silent.


End file.
